First - Does anyone know if the propeller stamp module with work on a standard Stamp carrier board? It’s supposed to have the same pin-outs as the stamp, but was wondering if there were any not-so-obvious issues. The website does not specify if it will work with any of the BOE carrier boards.
Second - I wonder what’s the difficulty of learning Spin to utilize programming techniques for multi-core processing. With 8 COGs, one can do a lot of real time processing.
Parallax and others have made special carrier boards for the Propeller chips, so I suspect it will not work on the older boards.
I did some serious looking at the Propeller chip, SPIN, etc. In fact, I even bought a Propeller carrier board. I never got a chance to actually use it though, and it’s buried in a box of electronics somewhere in my stuff now.
After going through the Propeller manual and reading all the programming info I could find, it does not look difficult to learn and use the multiprocessing features (COGs). Think of the COG as a thread in a multi-threaded program. You start a thread (COG) to do a specific task such as handling sensor inputs, locomotion, etc. Each thread (COG) should have a specific function that does not depend on other functions, but communication is possible between COGs if necessesary.
8-Dale
Parallex says any boards without specific I/O functions tied to the IO pins should work with the stamp. They also provide a list at the bottom of the PropStamp page, which includes the BOE.
parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=SS1-IC
Their tech specs list pins 1-3 as SIN, SOUT and ATN and also “Do not connect”, so I’d say they haven’t implemented the serial in circuit programming of other stamps. A special ‘PropClip’ is required for programming.
Also looking at the page that Matt put the link to, you see:
So to me it does not look like an easy drop into the ABB module
I don’t think that’s a big issue. The stamp I’m using is also 3v3, as is the display. Hooking a 1k resistor in series isn’t all that troublesome, just cut a jumper wire, solder in the resistor and add heat shrink.
You can still run the peripherals at 5v off the ABB.
I didn’t notice any mention of the supply voltage. The Bot Board does not use the stamps unregulated input. It was a decision we made to just put a robust regulator on there and not fool with the one on the stamp. So if the propeller stamp requires a 3.3vdc supply then it might be as easy as replacing the 5vdc regulator with a 3.3vdc version on the Bot Board.
There’s a 3v3 regulator on the stamp itself, VDD (pin 21) is 5v on the PropStamp (or up to 12v on the unregulated input).
That’s odd, a 5vdc powered chip that is restricted to 3.3vdc I/O pins? Am I missunderstanding something? 
From their data sheet, it looks like the 5v in is fed directly to a 3v3 regulator, and from there to the Spin processor. It seems the processor itself isn’t 5v tolerant in any way.
I’m confused.
The documentation says 5v will damage the Prop yet it has a 3.3v internal regulator?
By the way, thanks guys for the information. I looked on the site and could not find any information except that a special clip is needed for programming.
I clicked over to take a look see. It looks as if the old 5vdc in/out name is being retained even though there is no 5vdc regulator on the board. The unregulated input is 5.5 to 12vdc in. The “5vdc in/out” is really a 3.3vdc output, or 5vdc input for yet another 3.3vdc regulator to the chip itself… Unless the U1 regulator is infact a 5vdc regulator in which case the schematic is incorrectly listing it as a 3.3vdc regulator. 
I was just over there as well and the BOE they list as a reference does not say anywhere that a prop can be used.
The v-reg stuff is enough to make me bite my nails to the meat. 
Either its wrong in the schematic or wrong in the text on the first page of the the spec sheet. The text says 5v regulator, 3v3 regulator on the back of the stamp.
The Robotics Special Edition of Elektor Electronics has a schematic for the SPIN controller that is the same size as the Basic Stamp BOE. Hope this helps.
